Glazed ceramic composite are widely used in various industries. The glazed composite are mainly used for manufacturing tiles due to outstanding mechanical properties such as, but not limited to, high strength, toughness, translucency or opacity, low thermal expansion, high temperature resistance and high chemical durability. Glazes are widely used for coating ceramics in various industries. Glazes are generally used to color, decorate, strengthen and waterproof the ceramics. The glazes also exhibit properties of excellent scratch resistance and glossiness.
Generally, the glazes are prepared using raw materials such as, but not limited to, silica, zircon, kaolin, feldspar, dolomite, magnesium carbonate, boric acid and potassium nitrate in an industrial grade. A selected set of raw materials are thoroughly mixed and melted in a furnace at very high temperature to prepare molten raw materials. The molten raw materials are poured into water to obtain glass frits. The glass frits are ground in a mill, which are then used as glazes. These glazes are applied on ceramic bodies and fired at high temperature to obtain glazed ceramic bodies. Thus, the glazes are prepared separately and applied on the ceramic substrates. Further, the temperature used for firing and melting the raw materials are very high and consumes high amount of energy.
Additionally, wastes of ceramic and glass are immobilized by disposal in land-fills, used in road fills as a partial substitute for natural aggregate in concrete, or immobilized in cement industries as a substitute in varying proportions for cement in mortar and concrete. The ceramic wastes are also used in vitreous ceramic wastes which are used as immobile carrier for spent nuclear fuel and surplus plutonium. Economic justification for capital and operational costs of implementing such procedures for disposal of such waste tends to be very high.
Therefore, there is a need to develop a method for manufacturing glazed composite which is environment friendly, cost effective and has superior mechanical and chemical properties.